Words Mean Everything
by spaceman-earthgirl
Summary: "As You Wish." Three simple words that changed everything.
1. Chapter 1

Two-shot, set season 4 but Beckett wasn't shot so Castle didn't confess his feelings for her.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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"Castle, what're you doing?" Beckett asked, not looking up from her paperwork but watching Castle out of the corner of her eye.

That was something she'd begun to do a lot recently, watch him. Here at the precinct it was easy, every now and then she'd let her eyes drift just to see what he was doing. Just to see if she could figure out what he was thinking or what he was feeling. Paperwork days were the best for that because she had no distraction from an ongoing case to pull her thoughts away from him. And every now and then they'd look up together and catch the others eyes before they'd smile and go back to whatever they'd been previously doing.

"Nothing," he said as he fiddled with the pens on her desk yet again. He'd been sitting next to her all morning alternating between playing on his phone and playing with the items on her desk and it was really starting to irritate her.

"That doesn't look like nothing," she answered as he moved back to doodling on the piece of paper he had in front of him. She could've dealt with it if he'd actually been doing work but he was just sitting there mucking around and it made her jealous that she couldn't join him. Or better yet, she wished she could ditch the paperwork altogether and Castle and her could actually go out and do something fun together.

"Yes it is," Castle answered, mostly just bored and having fun winding up Beckett.

"Castle," Beckett said, voice firm as she finally lifted her head to look at him properly. Her eyes moved over his face, taking in how his fringe fell over his eyes and the gentle look in them as he looked at her.

"Kate," Castle replied with a smirk on his face, having fun and hoping he could get a smile out of her.

"What're you doing?" she asked again, eyes still on him as she tried not to think about how cute he looked right now.

"I'm bored," Castle simply answered, picking up the pen he'd been drawing with to twirl between his fingers as he watched her.

"Don't you have a book to write or something?" Beckett asked, knowing he was under pressure to get the next few chapters written.

"Yeah. " _But if I'm writing then I'm not here with you,_ he thought, knowing that he should be able to spend a day or two away from her so he could write but he found he really didn't want to. Even if it meant that he was getting behind on his writing because he was spending so much time at the precinct and with her.

"Then shouldn't you be doing that now instead of annoying me?"

"Probably," Castle replied, taking no offense to the fact that Beckett had just called him annoying.

"Castle," she said exasperatedly, "I have paperwork to do."

"I know." He really was being infuriating today.

"If you're going to stick around, could you at least get me some coffee?" _Maybe that would get him out of her hair for a few minutes so she could actually get some work done, _she thought. But it would also bring him back to her.

"As you wish," Castle replied as he stood and all Beckett could do was stare after him in shock, had he really just said that?

But she knew immediately that he meant the words, knew the way she'd interpret them (they had watched the movie together a few weeks ago) and now she truly knew how he felt about her.

For a while she'd thought there was the possibility that he was in love with her but his words just now confirmed it. And paired with all the lingering looks, his soft eyes, his light touches, she now knew without a doubt that he was in love with her.

And with that thought in mind she knew exactly what she had to do, she had to tell him that she felt the same way.

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The quote, "As you wish" is from the movie **The Princess Bride** for those of you who haven't seen it (it's a fantastic movie) and it means "I love you."

Thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the lovely reviews, I really appreciate it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters.**

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Castle returned to her desk with her coffee not long later but he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd said, and how idiotic it was. He'd basically just told her he loved her and he knows she understands the reference. They watched The Princess Bride together a few weeks ago and ever since then he'd been thinking about using those word but he never thought he'd have the courage to actually say them.

He handed her the coffee he'd made her and then took his seat again, wondering if she'd bring it up or just pretend it didn't happen. His money was on pretend it didn't happen. Or maybe she'd just pass it off as him making a joke but if that was the case she wouldn't bring it up either so now he was stuck and didn't know what to do.

And it didn't take long for him to start fidgeting again.

"Really, Castle?"

"What?"

"Just go home, you have no reason to be here," Beckett said and instantly she regretted her words, she didn't mean it to sound like that, especially after what he'd just said to her.

"But what if I want to be?" Castle asked, deciding to be bold again, there was no way she couldn't know how he felt now.

"I…" Beckett didn't know how to respond to that and now Castle didn't know what to say either.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything," Castle said, all his confidence gone. One day he'd tell her how he really felt, using the proper words, but today just wasn't that day.

Beckett felt her insides twist at the hurt expression on Castle's face, knowing that she was doing that to him. But she'd decided before that that was over. No more hiding, no more avoiding the truth and she knew what that truth was now, she was in love with Richard Castle and it was time he knew that too.

"Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"What?" Castle asked, his brows furrowed as he tried to work out exactly what was going on.

"Dinner, tonight, with me," Beckett clarified, her heart beating loudly in her chest as she waited for his answer. Had she just made a terrible mistake?

"Sure, I'd love to," he quickly said once he'd recovered, not believing what she'd just said. He'd seen the look on her face when he'd pushed her, gave her a tiny glimpse into his feelings for her, she'd looked terrified. But here she was now, looking hopeful as he accepted her invitation for dinner.

"Great, I'll see you tonight then?" Beckett asked, fighting to keep her voice level as she suddenly became very nervous about what she was going to do tonight.

"This isn't just your way of getting rid of me, is it?" Castle asked, only half joking, "you're not going to call later and cancel?"

"Of course not," Beckett smiled, wanting to show him how serious she really was, "I'll see you at seven?"

"Just to clarify, you've invited me over and you're going to cook dinner for me?" Was it a date?

"Yes," Beckett laughed again, "now go."

"I'll see you tonight, Detective," Castle smiled, still trying to figure out what Beckett meant by inviting him over to dinner but hoping it was a good sign.

Beckett couldn't help but watch him leave, wondering exactly what she'd gotten herself into for this evening.

**XXX**

Beckett was in a panic. She'd gotten home not long ago and was in the middle of cooking dinner when she'd started to freak out. Had she really invited Castle over for dinner to tell him how she felt? She calmed down a bit when she realised tonight could mean nothing, just dinner between friends and at the end of the night they could part as they always do and she'd see him again at work tomorrow.

But she found herself disappointed by that thought. She'd been hiding her feelings for him for so long and he'd been hiding his as well but the time for that was over, she wanted him to know she had feelings for him and tonight was the time to tell him that.

She'd panicked again at that thought, because how do you tell your best friend that you're in love with them? She didn't necessarily have to tell him that tonight but she did want to tell him she had feelings for him, that wanted to see if this thing between them could be as good as she dreamed it would be.

A knock at her door startled her and she was surprised to find it was already seven. Luckily she'd been on auto pilot while she'd been thinking so dinner only had a few minutes left until it would be done.

She opened the door to find Castle smiling tentatively at her, a bottle of wine in his hand.

"Hi," he said shyly, and this side of Castle was just so incredibly adorable that she had to stop herself from throwing herself through the open doorway at him. And wow, apparently the fact that she's decided to tell him how she feels has knocked the barrier out of the way that was stopping these sort of thoughts from getting through before.

"Hi," she replied just as shyly, taking the bottle of wine he offered to her.

"Smells delicious," Castle commented, at a loss of what else to say. What he really wanted to say was "you look beautiful" but he was waiting to take the lead from her to see what tonight was really about and how he should act.

She just smiled at him as she dished up their dinner so Castle made easy work of opening the bottle of wine and pouring them both a drink.

Once they were seated and eating, things got less awkward. It was more like they were used to, just two friends having dinner together.

Once they were finished eating, Castle insisted on helping with the dishes so when Beckett finally gave in, they both did the dishes together. After they were done, they just stood awkwardly in the kitchen, neither sure what to do now.

"It's getting late…" Castle trailed off, not wanting to leave but running out of reasons to stay. It seemed like this evening had just been a meal between friends and even if he was disappointed, Castle was still glad that they could hang out like this and maybe one day it would be as more than just friends.

"Yeah," Beckett breathed, realising she was running out of time but she still didn't know how to say what she wanted to.

"Thanks again for dinner, we should do it again some time," Castle smiled as they both walked towards her door.

Beckett was struggling, really unsure what to do. Well, no, that's wrong, she knew what she wanted to do she just wasn't sure how to do it.

And now Castle had his jacket on and he was opening the door, "goodnight, detective."

Beckett grabbed his arm as he turned to leave, "Castle, wait."

"Beckett?" He looked down at the hand she had on his arm then looked back up at her in confusion.

"I…just wait," Beckett said, frustrated that she just couldn't get the words out that she wanted to.

"Is everything okay?" Castle asked, his expression changing to one of concern as Beckett stepped back and closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. He took a step towards her and reached out, placing a hand on her upper arm. Beckett's eyes flew open and they widened when she realised just how close they were now standing.

"Sorry," Castle said, removing his hand after mistaking her look of shock for one of fear.

"No, Castle, I'm sorry," Beckett replied, looking down as she spoke.

"You're sorry?" She looked back up at him.

"Yes, for being so bad at this," she answered, searching his eyes to try and see what he was thinking.

"This?" Castle asked, not entirely sure what was going on now.

"This," Beckett repeated, moving her hand back and forth between them to indicate them both.

"I don't understand," Castle said, his eyes roaming her face to try and decipher what she was talking about.

Castle's eyes widened as she took a step closer and reached out and took one of his hands in hers, "this."

"Beckett?"

"Today you said something to me, did you mean it?" Beckett asked suddenly, her fingers gliding over the hand that she held in hers.

He knew immediately what she was talking about, he hadn't said the words but she'd obviously understood exactly what he was trying to say, that he loved her.

His eyes moved from their joined hands to look her in the eyes before he breathed, "Yes."

A smile like nothing Castle had ever seen broke out across Beckett's face and it was beautiful. Because he'd just done it again, admitted he was in love with her, and Beckett was so incredibly happy in this moment, in this moment with him.

Castle moved the hand that Beckett wasn't holding up to hover over her cheek, only now realising how bad he was shaking, how nervous he really was. He paused there for a second, waiting to see if she'd reject him but it was Beckett who tilted her head to the side so her cheek rested in his palm.

"Kate," he whispered as she stepped even closer so he could feel the warmth emanating off her. He leant down, resting his forehead against hers as she closed her eyes, wanting to feel all in this moment that she could.

"Will you kiss me?" he asked, his heart beating wildly as he watched and waited for her to crush his heart or make all of his dreams come true.

"As you wish." And then she kissed him.

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What did you think?


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